I am making a little Axolotl ...

Hi,
Happy to be home again.  Yes, there is quite a lot to set in order.   Still it is good to be home.

My friend Phaedra found a great pattern for a crochet Axolotl on Etsy.   Here is a link: axolotl-amigurumi-pattern.  The pattern is very easy to read.  I hope to have one to photograph soon.

I'm very tired.   Glad I'm home.  Glad Mary Frances is home.
Mary

Last Night at Point Richmond...

Hi Ya,
I'll be glad to get back to my regular life.  However, the living here is pretty easy.   I'll miss all of the roses, the extreme pizza, the cats, the really big bed, the bath tub, and of course The Hound.  The Hound has slipped into torpor mode again.  My dog, the little poodle, is camped out in this huge hound bed.

While the hound and I are snug on the love seat.  All is as it should be.  Well, almost as it should be. I broke a lamp.  I called Mary Frances and told her.  She asked "which lamp?" I explained which one.  Her response:  "Never did like that lamp".   Yup she is the nicest gal around.  I miss her very much.  I can't wait to see her tomorrow.

Peace Out,

Mary

Happy Birthday to ME

Hi Everyone,
I had the best birthday.  Thank you to all my friends and loved ones.   I feel loved and happy.
Yours,
Mary
PS: Mo thank you for donating to Aids Life Cycle.  Keith G. will enjoy the 1lb weight.  :)

tough out there in ALC ride land

Hi Everyone,

As you know I made caps for Aids Life Cycle 9 riders this year.  Well, it has been a difficult year to get donations.  The economy is bad -- like I have to tell you -- and very few folks are donating.  Even with my mighty fine alloneword cap some folks still need to raise some funds.

Sadly, Keith Gibson, the Team Captain of The Red Pencils is in this predicament.  If he can't make the minimum donation amount -- no ride for him.  No captain for his team (who knows what will happen to them without a captain).   I'm not sure but, I bet his teammates will haze him forever if he can't ride.  Only you can stop this kind of badgering.

Please help The Red Pencils keep their team together with their brave Captain at the lead.

Here are the links:  To donate JUST GO HERE or visit  ALC site at:


 http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/keithbot

Also as you know it is my birthday on Friday.   I received a gift of $100 for this special year (I'll be 40).  I have already donated this gift to the Aids Life Cycle 2010.   Please do what you can too.

Cheers,

Mary 

Rain, no rain, a little sun, rain, fog, sunny, ...

Hi All,
Yup still out here in Point Richmond.  It is such a nice little town.  However, part of my house sitting duties include watering the plants -- if it is sunny.  Well, like much of the book Bel Canto it is just kinda gray outside.  It seems like time has kinda stopped.

Then I go outside and see that the little plants need water.  But, it looks like rain, I tell them.  They don't care and just continue needing water.   Today I give in and water -- while it is just sprinkling a light mist of rain.  

It is raining pretty hard here now.

Cheers,
Mary

PS The Hound looked at me like I was nuts when I was watering in the rain.   Guess she was/is right.
m

Splicing and not rhyming... selvage

Good Evening Everyone,
I just figured out how to attach two pieces of selvage together.  I have been sewing them by hand.  Which is time consuming and not very much fun.  Now I splice them!  Doesn't that just sound sexy?  And it is too.  As sexy as crafting can get.  Here is how to do it.

First:  One starts with a paper grocery bag of long strips of salvage that are perfectly good and can not be thrown out.  Be very carful with these.   I am convinced that they breed when unattended.

Second:  Take one strip and make a small cut parallel with the sides of the selvage.

Third: Take the next strip and make a small cut parallel with the sides of the selvage.

Fourth: Insert the second strip into the slot of the first strip.  See it really is sexy with the inserting and striping.

Fourth: Slip the end of the second strip into its own slot.

Fifth: Pull the strip all the way through the slot.

Sixth: (this is the tricky part) Slide the end of the second strip over the end of the first strip. Then a quick tug.   Voila!  Spliced.

Clear as mud.  Mud can be sexy too.  But that would be a different blog.   I'm happy to produce photos of the striping, Inserting, slots, sliding, and the singular tug.   Available by request, just like my references.

Thank you,
Mary Elizabeth
(and that is what I call eco-friendly)

Post Script  (two hours - ish later)
Just fyi the selvage is the edge of the fabric.  It has a tighter weave than the rest of the fabric and therefor is removed before sewing.  Most folks throw it away.  I just can't do that.  The salvage is so pretty and strong.  For years I would save it to use as twine.  Then a few months ago I remembered my Great - Grand ma making rugs by crochteting strips of fabric.   It is kinda hard to to but I can do it pretty well.  Here is a snap of a tea pot trivet I just made from my spliced salvage.

And what a pretty thumb I have too.  I will post this on Etsy in the am.
Thank you,
Mary

Dog Sitting... well Hound Sitting

Hi,
As you know I am house and dog sitting here in Point Richmond.  The dog in question is a Gray Hound.  She is possibly the funniest dogs on the planet.  Here is a picture of her sleeping:

It seems like she is in some kind of torpor.  Creepy how her eyes roll back into her head like that...   It is very cute when her little feeties are running while dreaming.  However, it takes forever to wake this dog up.  I have never seen a dog so slow to get out of bed.

Cheers,
Mary

Point Richmond adventure in plumbing

Hi All,
Well,  The sink in the bathroom is draining slowly.  I'm going to try and fix it.  I have my cell phone all ready to call Dolores if I run into any problems.  I also have my credit card ready for when I call the real plumber to fix ... well what was perfectly fine before I got here.
Wish me good luck,
Mary

P.S. I fixed it!  Yes, I did.  I fixed it!  Take that liberal arts degree -- who's free now?  Yep, that is me.   Free from the tyranny of the slow draining sink.  Yup.  Go Mary go Mary go Mary.
m

Here in Point Richmond

Hi All,
I am in Point Richmond until Sunday.  It is quite here.  One has to really listen for the sound of traffic and people.  The main sounds are (for me) the jingle of bells from the cats' collars, Luna barking at said cats, and the wonderful howl/talking of the gray hound I am watching.

There are many flowers here.  It seems that Point Richmond is the place to grow roses.  It seems that every yard has at least 3 rose bushes of different colors.  Not to be out done the Catholic and Methodist Church seem to have every color of rose bush.   To my reckoning the Catholic Church (Our Lady of Mercy) has the best roses in town.  My favorite is a bright yellow and clean white.  However, it is hard to choose because they are all just covered with blooms.

I have been ironing and ironing and ironing.  I moved my big sewing machine (a 1914 singer 29-4) out of the car and hurt my had a little bit.  That means less cutting and more ironing.  Yippy.  It is nice to see the stack of perfectly folded and crisp fabric.

Just fyi using a different sewing machine is very difficult.  I finished the one cap and mailed it.  The others are going to wait until I am home again.

I miss everyone,
Mary

housesitting and dog watching in Point Richmond...

Hi All,
I am way over in Point Richmond.  On Saturday I took a wrong turn and ended up in Marin!  I even had to pay 4.oo dollars for the bridge toll.  Well as far as mistakes are 4 bucks is not so bad.  I just love this little town.  Later I am going to go for a walk with the dogs to the "beach", as Mary Frances calls it.  We will see how beachy it really is.

First I need to make at least one cap.  I brought my sewing machine and the cord... but not the foot pedal.  So sad.  At present I am trying to figure out how to use M.F.'s sewing machine.  How different can they be?  :)

Wish you were here to share a cup of yummy tea with me.  Maybe you could help me with this machine.

Yours,
Mary

Bike to work day! Yippie! and an Enchanted Square.

Hi Everyone,
Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day.  Lets get out there and ride.
Mary
PS I have been featured in an intresting blog.  the enchanted square Check it out!
m